Ginnungagap
'Ginnungagap '''is an ancient temple located within a ravine of stone. The ravine is located not far from High Lagaard and is the location in which Arianna, the princess of Caledonia, must perform a centennial ritual to ensure prosperity within the land. It is also here in which the power of the Knight of Fafnir resides, originating from the Black Guardian. It is a labyrinth that has become, due to an anomaly happening a hundred years prior, a ruin and harbors monsters of many kinds. While it is crucial to the plot in Story Mode of ''The Fafnir Knight, in Classic Mode it becomes accessible in the form of quests that slowly become available as the party defeats each stratum boss. History Ginnungagap was created by the Black Guardian, a researcher participating in the Yggdrasil Project. The temple was created as a place of sealing of the Yggdrasil Core and as a place to harbor the power of Fafnir, which was the means of sealing away the Core. The temple is assumed to be around a thousand years old. There were no assumed inhabitants of the temple other than the Black Guardian, living as an eternal entity within the temple. Because of the power of Fafnir, Ginnungagap was originally well maintained and remained within pristine condition for hundreds of years. Due to an anomaly, a significant amount of power was lost and Ginnungagap was forced to be downsized to conserve power. Thus, the upper floors of the temple fell to ruin and monsters entered and inhabited the ruins. The Ritual Ever since the construction of Ginnungagap, a centennial ritual has taken place within its walls. The purpose of the ritual is to renew the power sealing away the Yggdrasil Core and prevent the Core from ever escaping the temple. The ritual entails two roles: a Daughter of the Mark and a Fafnir Knight. The role of the Daughter is to select a Fafnir Knight and the two would travel to Ginnungagap to carry out the ritual. The Fafnir Knight would be the main subject in the ritual. The ritual would begin in the ritual hall, located in the second floor of the temple. But in order to begin the actual ritual and access the ritual hall, the Fafnir must defeat three powerful monsters: the Chimaera, Flame Demon, and Scylla, in order to approach the full potential of his Fafnir powers. After they're defeated, the ritual hall can be accessed and the ritual will begin within the third floor of Ginnungagap. The ritual begins with a trial to test the Fafnir Knight; the trial is to find the Gate of Boundaries, the gate to the deeper floors of Ginnungagap. After finding the Gate, the Fafnir Knight must pass through the gate and then complete the ritual. Only the Fafnir Knight may pass the Gate since if anyone else attempts to open the gate, their lifeforce will be drained and they will die. Once passing the Gate, the Knight will meet with the Black Guardian and receive the power to renew the Seal of the Yggdrasil Core, thus completing the ritual. From then on, the Fafnir will remain in the temple for the next hundred years until his lifeforce is drained and will be renewed by the next Fafnir Knight of the next trial. The Anomaly A century prior to the events of The Fafnir Knight, the previous Fafnir Knight, Bertrand de Gervaise, was selected to perform the ritual with his lady, Princess Violetta. However, before commencement of the ritual, he learned of his mother's death and his sister falling ill, and so he left to attend to his sister and mourn his mother's passing. Violetta conducted the ritual alone, becoming the Black Guardian in his place. Bertrand would then proceed to wander the world for the next century, kept alive by the powers of the Fafnir. The original Black Guardian, overseeing the rituals of Ginnungagap and unwilling to let the seal fade, reluctantly chose to allow Violetta to inherit the powers of the Black Guardian, despite her gravely injured state and poor constitution. While her strength was sufficient to maintain the seal at first, her weak body eventually took its toll, causing the weakening of the seal and the collapse of the upper floors of Ginnungagap and leaving its lower floors in a precarious state. During the course of the game, the protagonist would proceed through Ginnungagap's traditions and commence the ritual to inherit the powers of the Black Guardian. However, during the transfer of power, the rest of his party - Bertrand included - intrudes. The system, recognizing Bertrand as another bearer of the Mark and mistaking him as the next recipient, begins transferring the powers of the Black Guardian to him. The rest of the party hastily halt the ritual and confront Bertrand, who loses control of his power and transforms into the Demi-Fafnir. The Black Guardian bestows the remnants of her power to the protagonist, fully empowering his Fafnir abilities to help the party defeat the Demi-Fafnir. With the defeat of the second bearer of the mark, the power transfer is directed to its rightful bearer and the ritual is complete. Violetta uses her last moments to restore the fallen Bertrand before bidding the party farewell. With the methods of maintaining the seal no longer sustainable, the original Black Guardian directs the party to speak with the Overlord in order to find a way to bring an end to the Calamity, lest it break free from its seal and bring havoc to the world once more. Areas B1F Enemies * Sunflower * Jackalope * Wereboar * Haggis * Dread Hydra FOEs * Mercenary Boar * Boar Captain Boss * Basilisk B2F Enemies * Bugbear * White Orangutan * Red Haggis * Chi You FOEs * Binding Spider Boss * Arachne B3F Enemies * Deathly Pumpkin * Grim Mantis * Axolotl * Illbear FOEs * Death Wall Boss * None B4F Enemies * Same as B3F FOEs * Dazing Pumpkin Boss * Demi-Fafnir B5F Enemies * Leukocyte * Metal Needle * Hell Papillon * Red Corpuscle FOEs * Blue Glaucus Boss * Yggdrasil Core Trivia * All of the enemies fought on random encounters of the final floor of the Ginnungagap are also found in the Claret Hollows, home of Etria's Yggdrasil Core. This may imply that all Yggdrasil Cores use these same creatures as a defense mechanism. * At the beginning of Story Mode, just before the Fafnir's Force Boost abilities are unlocked, the protagonist is transported to a long corridor before conversing with the Black Guardian. A full exploration of Ginnungagap B5F reveals a long corridor leading to a dead end on the southeast quadrant of the map - this is that particular corridor. Category:Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold Locations